Games › Top-Down Shooter › Top-Down Shooter + Futuristic
Should I ship a Futuristic Top-Down Shooter?
Top-Down Shooter + Futuristic
Of 170 developers who shipped a Futuristic Top-Down Shooter in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 249 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 95 developers shipped in the last year and 249 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $300 (exactly $300) |
| Top 25% | $2.7k (exactly $2,695) |
| Top 5% | $37k (exactly $36,632) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 170 |
| Released games | 471 |
| Announced | 249 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue down 20% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Top-Down Shooter
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Futuristic
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Top-Down Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Bullet Hell
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D, Retro
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 3,208 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. Nearly all of the 83 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 249 games are announced against 95 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Top-Down Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + VampiresFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + World War IIFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcheryFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Tactical RPGPoor odds
- + Action RTSPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + ModernPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
- + DystopianPoor odds
Comparable games
The Ascent 2021 · $17M 
X-Morph: Defense 2017 · $2.0M 
Taur 2020 · $1.5M 
Red Solstice 2: Survivors 2021 · $1.2M 
Picayune Dreams 2023 · $623k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Ascent | older | $29.99 | 19,235 74% | 577k | $17M (exactly $17,305,730) | Neon Giant |
| | X-Morph: Defense | older | $19.99 | 3,272 90% | 98k | $2.0M (exactly $1,962,218) | EXOR Studios |
| | Taur | older | $24.99 | 2,011 79% | 60k | $1.5M (exactly $1,507,647) | Echo Entertainment |
| | Red Solstice 2: Survivors | older | $14.99 | 2,585 70% | 78k | $1.2M (exactly $1,162,474) | Ironward |
| | Picayune Dreams | older | $4.99 | 4,164 98% | 125k | $623k (exactly $623,351) | Stepford, Andyland, milkypossum |
 | Sektori | $14.99 | 897 96% | 27k | $403k (exactly $403,381) | Kimmo Lahtinen | |
 | CYGNI: All Guns Blazing | older | $29.99 | 448 60% | 13k | $403k (exactly $403,066) | KeelWorks |
 | Halo: Spartan Assault | older | $2.99 | 4,397 78% | 132k | $394k (exactly $394,411) | Vanguard Games, 343 Industries |
 | Tesla vs Lovecraft | older | $14.99 | 851 89% | 26k | $383k (exactly $382,695) | 10tons Ltd |
 | Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum | $12.99 | 839 98% | 25k | $327k (exactly $326,958) | nodayshalleraseyou | |
 | DoDonPachi Resurrection Reignite | $24.99 | 158 42% | 4.7k | $118k (exactly $118,453) | CAVE Interactive CO., LTD. | |
 | Keep Her Safe | · EA | $9.99 | 382 97% | 11k | $114k (exactly $114,485) | Gugu Studio |
 | Glitchpunk | $19.99 | 174 47% | 5.2k | $104k (exactly $104,348) | Dark Lord | |
 | BIRDCAGE | $13.99 | 218 97% | 6.5k | $91k (exactly $91,495) | POLYGON BIRD | |
 | Desperate Place | $10.99 | 253 66% | 7.6k | $83k (exactly $83,414) | BruceGalaxy | |
 | Artificial Extinction 2 | $19.99 | 113 77% | 3.4k | $68k (exactly $67,766) | 100Hr Games Inc | |
 | Planet Killer | $12.99 | 94 79% | 2.8k | $37k (exactly $36,632) | Talisman One Studio | |
 | Shell Runner | $14.99 | 80 57% | 2.4k | $36k (exactly $35,976) | Reija |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.